[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19188-19189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09326]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2018 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 19188]]
FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY
12 CFR Parts 1290 and 1291
RIN 2590-AA83
Affordable Housing Program Amendments; Correction, Extension of
Comment Period, and Further Request for Comment
AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance Agency.
ACTION: Proposed rule; correction, extension of comment period, and
further request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is correcting an
inadvertent error in the calculation of a proposed regulatory outcome
requirement in the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on
March 14, 2018, regarding the Federal Home Loan Banks' (Banks)
Affordable Housing Program (AHP or Program). FHFA is requesting comment
on the corrected calculation and is extending the comment period on all
aspects of the proposed rule by an additional 30 days.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule, published at 83 FR
11344 (March 14, 2018), is extended to June 12, 2018. Written comments
must be received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments, identified by Regulatory
Information Number (RIN) 2590-AA83, by any one of the following
methods:
Agency Website: www.fhfa.gov/open-for-comment-or-input.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. If you submit your
comment to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also send it by email
to FHFA at [email protected] to ensure timely receipt by FHFA.
Include the following information in the subject line of your
submission: Comments/RIN 2590-AA83.
Hand Delivered/Courier: The hand delivery address is:
Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel, Attention: Comments/RIN 2590-AA83,
Federal Housing Finance Agency, Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20219. Deliver the package at the Seventh Street
entrance Guard Desk, First Floor, on business days between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m.
U.S. Mail, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, or
Other Mail Service: The mailing address for comments is: Alfred M.
Pollard, General Counsel, Attention: Comments/RIN 2590-AA83, Federal
Housing Finance Agency, Eighth Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20219. Please note that all mail sent to FHFA via U.S.
Mail is routed through a national irradiation facility, a process that
may delay delivery by approximately two weeks. For time-sensitive
correspondence, please plan accordingly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted Wartell, Manager, Office of
Housing and Community Investment, 202-649-3157, [email protected];
Marcea Barringer, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Housing and
Community Investment, 202-649-3275, [email protected]; Marshall
Adam Pecsek, Senior Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 202-649-3380,
[email protected]; or Sharon Like, Managing Associate General
Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 202-649-3057, [email protected].
These are not toll-free numbers. The mailing address is: Federal
Housing Finance Agency, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.
The telephone number for the Telecommunications Device for the Hearing
Impaired is (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments
FHFA invites comments on all aspects of the March 2018 proposed
rule, including any new or supplemental comments on the corrected
calculation of the proposed regulatory outcome requirement, and will
take all comments into consideration before issuing a final rule
including those filed prior to this notice. Copies of all comments will
be posted without change, including any personal information you
provide such as your name, address, email address, and telephone
number, on the FHFA website at http://www.fhfa.gov. In addition, copies
of all comments received will be available for examination by the
public through the electronic rulemaking docket for this proposed rule
also located on the FHFA website.
Background
On March 14, 2018, FHFA published in the Federal Register a
proposed rule to amend its regulation governing the Banks' AHP, located
at 12 CFR part 1291. See 83 FR 11344. The proposed rule, among other
things, would provide the Banks authority to design and implement their
own project selection scoring criteria and award AHP funds, subject to
meeting certain FHFA-prescribed outcome requirements. The proposed rule
contains an inadvertent error in the calculation of the regulatory
outcome requirement in proposed Sec. 1291.48(d), related rule text,
and preamble discussions. The proposed rule states that: ``Each year,
each Bank shall ensure that at least 55 percent of the Bank's required
annual AHP contribution is awarded under the Bank's General Fund and
any Bank Targeted Funds to projects that, in the aggregate, meet at
least two of the three regulatory priorities in this paragraph . . .
.'' See 83 FR 11361, 11386 (emphasis added).
Under proposed Sec. 1291.48(d), as drafted in the proposed rule,
any AHP funds awarded to a household participating in a Homeownership
Set-Aside Program would not count towards fulfillment of the outcome
requirement. Therefore, were a Bank to allocate the maximum amount
permitted under the proposed rule to its Homeownership Set-Aside
Program(s)--40 percent of its required annual AHP contribution--it
would be required to ensure that nearly 92 percent of its remaining
annual contribution be awarded to projects that satisfy, in the
aggregate, two of the three identified regulatory priorities.
While not all subsidies awarded under a Homeownership Set-Aside
Program will meet one of the prioritized housing needs identified under
the regulatory priorities in proposed Sec. 1291.48(d), some will, and
FHFA believes that this should be reflected in the applicable outcome
requirement.
Correction
Proposed Sec. 1291.48(d), related rule text, and preamble
discussions, therefore, should have included awards to households under
a Bank's Homeownership Set-Aside Programs, if any, along with awards
under the
[[Page 19189]]
Bank's General Fund and any Bank Targeted Funds, in the calculation of
whether the Bank achieved the regulatory outcome requirement. That is,
the Bank's awards under its General Fund and any Targeted Funds and
Homeownership Set-Aside Programs would be included in the numerator,
and the Bank's required annual AHP contribution amount would be
included in the denominator of the calculation.
Accordingly, in the proposed rule FR Doc. 2018-04745, on page
11386, in the issue of March 14, 2018, in the left column, in paragraph
(d) of Sec. 1291.48, the correction should correctly read: ``Each
year, each Bank shall ensure that at least 55 percent of the Bank's
required annual AHP contribution is awarded under the Bank's General
Fund and any Bank Targeted Funds and Homeownership Set-Aside Programs
to projects or households, as applicable, that, in the aggregate, meet
at least two of the three regulatory priorities in this paragraph . . .
.'' (emphasis added) If the corrected language is adopted in a final
rule, FHFA will also make any other conforming revisions to the rule
text as necessitated by the correction.
FHFA specifically requests comments on whether the calculation, as
corrected, would provide the Banks sufficient flexibility to provide
AHP funds to the housing needs in their districts. FHFA further
requests comments on whether other changes to the outcome calculation
would be appropriate, such as decreasing the percentage of the Bank's
annual AHP contribution required to meet the regulatory priorities to
less than 55 percent, provided that at least a majority of the Bank's
annual AHP contribution is awarded to certain regulatory priorities
established by FHFA.\1\ FHFA also requests comments on whether adding a
regulatory priority that is specifically focused on homeownership would
increase opportunities for the Banks to include awards made in their
Homeownership Set-Aside Programs towards meeting the regulatory
priorities.
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\1\ The Federal Home Loan Bank Act requires FHFA to establish
priorities for the use of the AHP funds. 12 U.S.C. 1430(j)(9)(B).
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Extension of Comment Period
The comment period for the proposed rule was originally set to
expire on May 14, 2018. FHFA has received a number of requests from
commenters for an extension of the comment period of varying lengths,
with commenters citing the complexity and length of the proposed rule,
the important issues addressed, and the high level of interest. In
light of these requests, and FHFA's additional request for comment on
the correction to the proposed outcome requirement calculation, FHFA is
extending the comment period by an additional 30 days. This will result
in a total comment period on the proposed rule of 90 days, expiring
June 12, 2018.
Dated: April 26, 2018.
Melvin L. Watt,
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2018-09326 Filed 5-1-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070-01-P